Meeting with Carolyn Parsons, the UMW Archivist, helped to understand the best search options for archives within Virginia. She recommend several different archive sites and libraries to use when researching intentional communities. When looking at Virginia communities it was made clear that the best places to start would be the Sate Library of Virginia, The Virginia Historical Society, The University of Virginia’s Library, and Virginia Heritage. These sites contain the largest amount of information regarding Virginia’s archives. When searching key words such as “communes” and “communal living” there were a few entries on Twin Oaks, along with a few letters and statistics on members. Besides that there is little information on these sites regarding other communities within VA. This is understandable however, especially since a lot of them are newer establishments.
-Maureen